> Hello Judy, > > I wonder if we are relayed? Everyone says that, ha, ha. > > George Simpson born 1820, Elgin, owned 15 acres. He was a crofter. > married > Margaret Garden born 1822, Elgin died 1896 > > daughter: > Jane Brodie Simpson born October 27, 1859 > > She had an illegiment child. > Mary Ann McKenzie born June 9, 1880 She was my husband's Great Grandmother. > For years we thought she was a Geddes but it turns out from her birth > certificate she was a McKenzie. > I do not think her parents were married, her father was Alexander McKenzie. > > Happy New Year, > Catherine > Parksville, BC > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Judy Acaster" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, December 24, 2007 10:09 PM > Subject: [MORAY] Jane McKENZIE nee GRANT > > > > On this scorching (40o) Christmas Day in the other Perth, W. Australia, I > am > > thinking of my g.g.grandmother, Jane McKENZIE nee GRANT who died on > > Christmas Day 1914 in Elmore, Victoria, Australia. > > > > Jane was the daughter of blacksmith Lachlan GRANT and Jean nee WALKER. She > > was born, or at least baptised at Edinkillie on 14.3.1836. Lachlan was > the > > blacksmith at Ferness Bridge and after Jane married James McKENZIE, they > > all followed the rest of the GRANT family to Australia in 1857. What an > > adventure that must have been! > > > > Jane was a typical hardworking woman of her time. James worked at the > > diggings in Rutherglen and I guess they lived in a tent. However, after > > their nine year old daughter, Jane Elizabeth, drowned on 24.1.1866, James > > decided his fortune lay not in gold but in the land and he obtained a > grant > > to return to farming. A slab hut was probably their first home and > with > > the sorrow of losing their beloved daughter who had been born in Ardclach, > > and the hard work of clearing their land, life must have been tough. > > > > But they were Scots! After I had spent time exploring the areas they came > > from in Moray and knowing the area where they settled in Australia, I can > > understand that possibly only Scottish farmers would be able to survive. > > The land is similar and the isolation would be familiar to them. The > > living conditions in Scotland would not have been much better than they > > experienced in Australia. > > > > Jane gave birth to two sons who also died as children and two more who > > eventually took over the farms. I 'found' Jane Elizabeth by accident, > when > > I found her mother's grave in an isolated bush graveyard and it mentioned > > the daughter who had drowned. I tracked down the inquest which makes sad > > reading. > > > > I think of them both with fondness today and would love to sit down with > > Jane, to chat about what it was like to grow up in Scotland, and also her > > life in early Australia. > > > > Happy Christmas everyone.............Judy > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in > the subject and the body of the message > > >